The present invention relates to a device employed for inserting strings at one end of a stringed instrument, especially a guitar.
Each string of a stringed instrument, especially a guitar, has one end which is usually secured to the side of the head or peg head by a tuning mechanism and has another end which is inserted into a holding notch toward the end of the instrument body away from the head. Between its two ends, the string extends over the saddle of a bridge. The bridge lifts the string off the fingerboard and transmits its vibrations to a resonator, especially a sounding board. The tension on each string is adjusted with the tuning mechanism to tune the instrument before it is played.
Bridge-saddle units that can be adjusted in height and in their position along the instrument body have been developed which enable varying the height distance between the fingerboard and the strings and ensure proper acoustic equalization meaning octaval purity. Such components are usually mounted on a common base. Also known are combination mechanisms that involve a string holder. That end of each string on which there is a securing ball is inserted into the holder. Such devices are generally intended to accommodate several strings. Any need for more strings than the traditional number can only be accommodated with specially constructed devices of the type. Another drawback to such devices is that the adjustable bridges are unstable. As a result, the vibrations, especially of lightly tensioned strings, are accordingly suppressed and the strings change their sound.
Devices have been developed that enable tuning the strings with a tuning mechanism before the instrument is played and also that enable temporarily and rapidly varying the string pitch while the instrument is being played. These devices vary the tension of the string over a prescribed range for varying its pitch. Examples include pedal operated guitars, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,387. A lever and rod make it possible to vary the pitch of a string or strings while the instrument is being played by adjusting the ensemble of the bridge and the string holder to attain what is called a Hawaiian effect. A device that operates on a similar principle with electric guitars is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,417, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,086 and German Patent 3 626 168 describe devices for varying the pitch of strings between two definite thresholds, specifically by way of a tuning mechanism mounted on the head of the instrument. German Patent 3 843 533, on the other hand, describes a device that can simultaneously tune and vary the pitch of several strings and that is mounted in the vicinity of the bridge. The major drawbacks to these devices are that they are mechanically complicated and accordingly expensive to manufacture, that they are not universally applicable, and that stable pitches cannot be ensured within the given range.